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Interchangeable Weaponry
Interchangeable Weaponry is a system where a robot can be modified between battles, allowing the team to change its weaponry. The Robot Wars technical rules allow this, as long as; *The weapons did not push the robot over the weight, height and width restrictions. *The weapons were offensive additions rather than defensive additions. *The team declared all the weapons they could use before the tournament. The first robots to use interchangeable weaponry on the show were Roadblock, which had interchangeable blades for their rear saw weapon, Killertron, with its double-headed pickaxe and unused mace weapon, and Shogun, which had side spikes which were interchangeable with spikes of different sizes. All three robots first appeared in the first ever episode, Heat A of Series 1. The most successful robot to use interchangeable weaponry is Series 6 champion Tornado, which relied on a variety of different weapons - including a spinning drum, a scoop and an 'anti-crusher weapon' - to succeed in later series. Other successful competitors to use them in recent series include the robots of Team Shock and Series 9 runner-up Eruption, although the latter mainly relied on its rear-hinged flipper during battles. Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages *Interchangeable weaponry gives a robot a wider range of attacking options and tactics than what can be offered with a single weapon. For example, in Series 9, Behemoth's interchangeable scoop, angled ploughs and grabbing arms gave the team the choice of flipping their opponents with the original scoop, deflecting blows from spinning weapons with the angled ploughs, or pinning down opponents with the grabbing arms. *Interchangeable weaponry allows the robot to be modified depending on which opponent(s) it faces. For example, in Series 9, Behemoth used one of its angled ploughs, designed specifically to deflect blows from spinners, which helped it to defeat PP3D. *If one weapon proves ineffective, it can easily be replaced with another. In Series 4, the X-Terminator team found that the robot's axe weapon was not damaging enough, so they changed it to the scoop flipper, which helped X-Terminator win its Heat Final against Behemoth. **Alternatively, interchangeable weapons can easily be swapped round when one breaks. This happened to Big Nipper in Series 8, which resorted to using its crushing claws against TR2 after its spinning disc was badly damaged during its Group Battle. *Interchangeable weaponry can bring a 'surprise factor' to a robot, that its opponent(s) may not anticipate. Although declared in advance and approved by the Robot Wars technical crew, Tornado's horizontal spinner weapon was not revealed on the show until its battles with Razer in US Season 2 and UK Series 6 respectively. The weapon's existence and effectiveness thus remained unknown prior to its first uses in combat. Disadvantages *Each interchangeable weapon will have its own disadvantages, and not all will necessarily be suited for certain opponents. *Adding an extra weapon to a robot can adversely change a robot's abilities. For example, the spike used by X-Terminator in Extreme 1 prevented it from self-righting, a problem which could have been avoided if it was not fitted at all. **Similarly, Storm 2 would not have been able to run inverted with the flywheel. *Some custom prepared weapons were not allowed to be used as they violated the rules. In Series 6, Team Tornado were not allowed to use their anti-spinner weapon against Hypno-Disc, and their anti-crusher weapon was banned after Extreme 2, with both interchangeable weapons being deemed to be defensive additions. *Buying and/or building multiple weapons for a robot is more expensive and time-consuming than developing a single weapon. *Having interchangeable weapons sometimes proves unnecessary, as one weapon can prove much more effective than the others. For example, in Series 1, Killertron had a mace as well as an axe. However, the axe proved effective, so Team Trojan decided to not use the mace and only brought the axe to subsequent series. *Mixing weapons up gives roboteers less experience with each weapon and how it will operate against a type of opponent. In Series 8, Gabriel experimented with a battle axe which actually proved less effective in its Head-to-Head against Ironside3 after getting caught in the flame pit. As a result, Team Saint reverted to using Gabriel's tried-and-tested sword for its later battles. **Some interchangeable weaponry can prove ineffective when used. For example, in Series 9, Behemoth's grabbing arms failed to pin down their opponent properly when used for the first time against Cherub, leading to it losing the battle and being eliminated from the series. List of Robots with Interchangeable Weapons Robots are listed alphabetically. Robots which are not heavyweight entries are listed with a green background. House Robots are listed with a yellow background. Trivia *In Series 7, Ripper's flipper was said to be interchangeable with a disc and an axe, but John Findlay later revealed that this was not actually true, and that he had made it up for the benefit of viewers. References Category:Weapon Types Category:Robots with Interchangeable Weapons